Today's true story:
My all-time favorite superhero is the Silver Surfer.
Most people would probably claim Spider-Man, Batman, Wolverine, or Superman as their favorite superhero. Those guys are probably the most famous and well-known. If any comic book superheroes could be considered icons, those guys would probably fit the bill. (Wonder Woman should be up there, but although she is well-known, I don't think she gets enough love.) I like them all, too; it's just that I don't like them as much as the Surfer.
Ever since I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Surfer. He's got a unique look, and the fact that he's this cosmically-powered being who travels through space on a surfboard is offbeat enough that something about him just set my imagination ablaze with wonderment and awe.
His heroism was always a huge inspiration to me when I was growing up, especially as I was an impressionable child who ravenously absorbed everything I could possibly read. Norrin Radd, a citizen of the planet Zenn-La, sacrificed his own freedom to Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds. In exchange, Galactus spared Zenn-La and transformed Norrin into his personal herald, the Silver Surfer. It's almost a Biblical space opera.
For some undisclosed amount of time, the Surfer loyally serves Galactus as his herald. The Silver Surfer soars the spaceways in search of suitable planets for his master to consume. Of course, Galactus eventually comes to devour Earth, having been led there by the Surfer. The Surfer encounters the Fantastic Four, who manage to hold him off, but it's really a blind human woman who manages to open his eyes by pleading for him to recognize the sanctity of life. His heart touched for the first time since his own transformation into Galactus' herald, the Surfer rebels against his nearly omnipotent master and joins the Fantastic Four in what is, ostensibly at least, a hopeless battle.
Of course, they manage to drive off Galactus, but only after Galactus exacts his punishment on his creation by exiling him. As a result, the Surfer loses his freedom and gets stuck on Earth, a superpowerful alien who once roamed space.
It always blew me away that there was a superhero who sacrificed so much and still saved humanity on a planetary scale. We can compare Superman to Moses due to the many parallels they share. I've long associated Batman with Sisyphus, eternally frustrated because he's essentially cursed with an impossible task. The Surfer, on the other hand, is a messianic figure. I stop short of comparing him to Jesus, but I've often read of people comparing him to Christ.
The Surfer's early series from the 1960s stands out as one of Stan Lee's most affecting works. It's all about this noble, messianic hero who endeavors to save humanity from ourselves, only he's circumvented at every turn by the people he seeks to protect. Human selfishness constantly undermines his benevolent efforts. Governments hate and fear him. Normal people mock him. And yet he wants to save them anyway. Sound like anyone from the Bible?
Yeah, there are other superheroes who are hated and feared by the world they are sworn to protect. The X-Men immediately come to mind. Spider-Man, to an extent, fits the bill. And Batman, well, his goal is to be feared. The thing that sets the Surfer apart is his intense solitude. He doesn't really have any friends he can rely on. The X-Men have each other. Spider-Man has his Aunt May and the rest of his supporting cast. The Surfer is truly an alien. Despised. Feared. Misconstrued. And yet he somehow finds it within himself to truly love man, despite wielding the power to smite the world at his whim.
There's something about his story that always inspired me. Although the quality of his adventures has varied depending on the writer/artist team telling the stories, the character remains my favorite superhero ever.
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For an extra-long post, I'm tacking on these paragraphs about my first Surfer comic. Why? Because I wrote it a long time ago and had it lying around in my hard drive for months for no real purpose. I write primarily for myself, but I guess the point of any writing is always to share it with the world, or at least with someone. Not that I'm sure anyone would read this. Oh, well. TAINT TAINT TAINT TAINT yeah baby! Anyway...
The second comic book I ever owned was Silver Surfer #54. You can see the cover at the top of this very post. Vintage '90s.
Silver Surfer #54, more so than even that X-Men Classic comic book I first owned, had a big impact on me. I was probably about eight years old when I got it. This was the late spring/early summer of 1991, which was when the Infinity Gauntlet crossover storyline was kicking off – an awesome time for a little kid to get into Marvel comics. In retrospect, it is funny how lame Silver Surfer #54 is. I mean, it’s the Surfer vs. the Rhino, for crying out loud! Yup, Spider-Man’s third-tier supervillain. You know, the big bulky guy who dresses up in a rhino suit and rams into things with his horns! That isn’t even really a fight. But when I was a kid, I didn’t really think about that. I just saw a buff dude in a rhino suit charging into Silver Surfer on the cover of the comic. He knocked the Surfer clean off his board! Never mind the unlikelihood of such an event.
Although my parents gave away most of my childhood collection by the time I was in high school, I recently, shall we say, “reacquired” SS #54, and reread it for the first time in years. It’s worse than I remembered it to be. The story is cheesy as hell: with all of existence on the brink of interstellar apocalypse (due to Thanos’ sinister machinations with the Infinity Gauntlet), the Rhino decides to make the best of his remaining time alive by going to the zoo and freeing the animals from their cages. The Surfer, who just happens to be flying by the zoo, encounters the subsequent chaos and confronts the Rhino. They do battle until the Surfer saves the life of a tiger, who was shot by a cop while stalking pedestrians. As a result, the Rhino thinks the Surfer is a good dude ‘cause he likes animals, and then they kiss and make up.
That story impressed me when I was eight, though. Plus, it got me into all the stuff going on in The Infinity Gauntlet miniseries. All that cosmic stuff combined with the superhero action really kicked my imagination into overdrive. The Silver Surfer swiftly (you dig that alliteration?) became my favorite superhero and I collected his series on a monthly basis for several years.
One thing that really stood out about SS #54, however, was the artwork. Ron Lim, baby, it was Ron Lim! That man was totally my childhood comic artist hero. I still think he’s great. He’s got good storytelling skills, and solid draftsmanship. The way he drew the Surfer is nearly unparalleled. Jack Kirby and John Buscema are in a class of their own, of course, but I have nothing but love for Ron Lim. His Surfer actually looked shiny. Also, the action scenes were kinetic and intense. Ron Lim drew incredible power blasts and explosions of energy. He definitely maxed out the Kirby Crackles. It basically blew my mind away. Every time the Surfer used the Power Cosmic to blow something up, it was like there was a Power Cosmic explosion in my brain. Keep in mind that this was in an age before digital painting and PhotoShop and computer effects were in use in comics.
Although I greatly enjoyed Silver Surfer #54 when I was young, time has tempered my critical appraisal. Sometimes people still like the stuff they liked as a kid, whether it’s cartoons, toys, comics, or whatever. I think nostalgia is a taint. Taint, taint, taint. (Remember, I like that word. Seeing it in print makes me laugh. Taint.) Nostalgia sometimes taints people’s analyses of their memories.
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